At just nine-years-old, Alba Evans from Shrewsbury is the youngest person to become a Founder of the Lingen Davies Sunflower Appeal.
With a generous charitable streak and the help of her parents, Alba has hosted several previous fundraisers, including ones to raise money for Lingen Davies Cancer Support.
After hearing about our latest appeal to raise £5million to fund a new Lingen Davies Cancer Centre at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, Alba decided to host a dedicated fundraiser in October and set herself the challenge of raising a minimum of £500.
“I said to my mum that we hadn’t done some fundraising for a while and because she works with Lingen Davies sometimes, she mentioned they had a Sunflower Appeal that they needed to raise money for. It sounded perfect so I decided we had to raise money for that.
“It took me three months to plan. We made lots of cakes and I made some things out of resin like jewellery. One of my mum’s friends also 3D printed some animals and boats that people could buy.”
After a day of fundraising fun, Alba’s event raised £758 for Lingen Davies’ Sunflower Appeal.
As one of the first 100 people to raise £500 or more for the Lingen Davies Sunflower Appeal, Alba was named an official Founder and will receive a unique badge celebrating this status. She will also be permanently recognised in the new Lingen Davies Cancer Centre at Princess Royal Hospital when it opens in 2029.
Alba said: “At first, I was like ‘What’s a founder? What does it mean?’. Then my mum told me, and I was really excited and knew I was going to help with more stuff after it. A little party was going on in my head.”
“I’d like to thank the people who helped us. The first person actually works for Lingen Davies, and her name is Angela. My grandma helped us bake some cakes and helped with selling on the day. Also, my mum, brother, and dad helped. My friends wanted to help me sell my resin designs, so they came and sat behind the stall and helped like that.
“I really enjoyed fundraising for Lingen Davies, and the time before because I’ve fundraised for them before, so I’d definitely do it again. I don’t know when or what, but I know it would be fun.”
If you’d like to join Alba and raise some life-changing funds for our £5million Sunflower Appeal to bring cancer services to Telford, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!